This blog is intended to keep family and friends updated on our current adventures

Sunday, March 07, 2010

CAMPING WITH NEW AND OLD FRIENDS

It’s been awhile since I last posted, but things have been pretty slow around here. We did manage to go to Quartzite in January for a few days and this past week we spent 4 days in Borrego with friends. If you are a regular reader of “Gassaway’s Adventures” you may recall that in Utah last year we met Hans and his son Frank in Bluff. Hans had shipped his motor home from Germany to the States and spent around 5 months traveling the U.S. When he returned to Germany, he left his motor home in storage at our friends Gary and Diane’s house, with plans to return in the spring.

Hans and his girlfriend, Silke, arrived from Germany this past week and after a resupply of their motor home, took us up on our invitation to go camping in Borrego. Joined by Gary and Diane, we camped at Arroyo Salado a primitive camp in the Borrego Badlands. We took great pleasure in showing them our local desert, which because of the recent rains was the greenest we’ve seen it in years. The wildflowers are in bloom with the peak expected in the next several weeks. We visited 17 Palms Oasis, the Pumpkin Patch, Split Mountain, Fish Creek, Sandstone Canyon and took a hike up Palm Canyon. Evenings were spent around the campfire, learning about life in Germany, not to mention a little bit of German. Both Hans and Silke speak excellent English as it is a required subject in every German’s education.

LOOK WHAT WE FOUND IN BORREGO

ARROYO SALADO CAMP

SANDSTONE CANYON

THE PUMPKIN PATCH

Last fall, the first time we saw Hans, he was floating down the San Juan River past our campsite. With the water temperature in the high 50’s, we figured he was just some crazy tourist. As it turns out, Hans wants to go swimming where ever he goes. Borrego was no different. He managed to find a deep pool on our Palm Canyon hike and didn’t hesitate to strip down to his underwear and dive in.

HANS IN PALM CANYON

After 4 days, Hans and Silke headed east and plan on taking 4 weeks to cross the country. They have a date with a freighter in Baltimore for shipping the motor home back to Germany. In April, Cathie and I are heading to Europe for six weeks and we’ve been invited to spent time in Hans and Silke’s home in the Black Forrest. We can hardly wait